short scale bass recommendations

[Eruso]

Fender jaguar usa

 

[lug]

Fender jaguar usa

I thought only some of the the Fender Squiers were short scale.

 

[Jscriv]

I recently grabbed a CME shell pink squier bronco, and I gotta say I'm really impressed by it. Great tone and comfortable to play.

 

[Old_Noob]

I have a gretsch junior jet 2220 and have no real complaints. Awesome instrument for the price. A lot of tonal variety with the dual mini hummers.

 

[Mrtoodamnsabre]

Everyone’s gonna laugh but the fender musicmaster is great, they’re the only affordable vintage bass, it’ll have aged wood, and it’ll sound great. The pickup they come stock with is a Stratocaster guitar pickup, shockingly it’s a rounder sounding bass than a p bass to me at least. My suspicion is it’s because the strings sit in between the 6 pole pieces and some strings line up directly over
Them, somehow by sheer chance it works lol

 

[A9X]

somehow by sheer chance it works lol

It's because the magnetic fields generated around the poles are quite wide so there' a fairly even mag field along the length of the pickup.

 

[jnnybasso]

I have a Wilcock Mullarkey, got it used, super fine Short Scale, but costs some coin. Also Nash is making Mustangs that look pretty nice, I have a 52 P bass of theirs that is awesome...

 

[Chicken Wing]

I do not own a SS bass so I shan’t comment on this matter. If you need to know about quantum physics, don’t ask me either.

 

[kevrex]

I've had a '78 Musicmaster for years. I swapped the pickup for a rail-sized humbucker because the original pickup was pretty weak. Easy to play, though heavy. I recently picked up a Gretsch Jr. Jet that's great, though I'm getting some RF noise. Some people are complaining about that, others say they're dead quiet. But the neck and tones are fab.

 

[funk generator]

I would go with a Cat bass or if you can swing it order an X3M from MuB

 

[Zanerd]

I grabbed a Mustang P/J and it’s stellar overall. I played the Gibson DC tribute as well and it was quite good, I just wanted to save a bit of money and was hesitant about the bridge type. CME has an aged white DC that looks great.

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

I enjoy my Hofners but I know my fender mustang is a more versatile and better playing / recording bass. I just hated the esthetics of the fender (giant headstock on a small scale bass) - that look really put me off. Yes, I am shallow and not much of a player in the first place.

I do think medium scale is the best compromise for me.

 

[SC Guy]

Fender JMJ Mustang...I recently bought one in black. It is a really fantastic bass and you will find some good reviews. The pickup is really good for a passive bass, the neck is 1.65 at the neck, quality hardware and has a cool road-worn vibe.

 

[PapaKev]

The Fender JMJ is great. My favorite is my Sandberg Lionel, followed closely by my Serek Grand. Also recommend the Nordy Cat bass. Sounds so great, I’ll be selling a recently purchased med-scale Serek Lincoln!

 

[noahw1]

I really enjoy the Lakland hollow body short scale. Lakland necks are the best.

 

[Eric Huber]

I bought a Schecter Banshee. Its a good bass construction wise. Fit and finish was also really good for the $699 price. The pickups were not so great. So I replaced with my standby EMG Butler P's. Now it's all the bass and then some !!!! However nothing and I mean nothing compares to my Lakland HB30. Best jazz sound around.

 

[A9X]

I just hated the esthetics of the fender (giant headstock on a small scale bass) - that look really put me off.

That was one of the things I hated about my Jag. The headstock was huge, and it made the bass neckdive, and my 2 Samick SS's had tiny headstocks so there was no need for it apart from screaming Fender! Plus in all other regards the Samicks felt better in my hands and I preferred the tone.

 

[phillipkregg]

Maple fingerboard kinda limits the field a little.

Normally I'd recommend the Fender JMJ Mustang, but it doesn't have a maple board.

If maple is a necessity, I'd go with maybe a G&L Fallout bass. Or if you don't mind spending a lot more, a good and trendy option is a custom build from Serek.

 

[jimmydean]

I like the Fender JMJ Mustang but I recently bought a Sterling Sting Ray S/S that I think is the best sounding bass I have ever played .

 

[Mark Gastambide]

I bought a Fender Player Mustang earlier this year. I assume that's what you are looking for - with the PJ pickups and maple fingerboard. I like it quite a lot, but it needed some tweaking when it arrived at the house. (I bought it online, new.) First, the frets were NOT dressed on the edges. Probably the roughest I have ever seen on a so - called "decent quality" bass. I had to smooth them down with a sanding block. Secondly, the neck needed adjusting, and the truss rod nut was NOT engaging the truss rod at all. I had to remove it, and re-thread it onto the truss rod - then it worked fine. The third not - so - awesome thing I discovered as soon as it came out of the box - it looked NOTHING like the cherry sunburst (I KNOW it SAID Sienna Burst, but the photos definitely looked like a classic cherry burst) examples shown everywhere online. Instead of red around the edges, it is more of a light brown, caramel color. This may not matter to a lot of players, but I truly loved the cherry sunburst look that was advertised, and found it disappointing.)

All that said, it is now a very nice - playing, little bass. I bought the gig bag that Fender makes especially to fit their short scales, and it fits like a glove. Nice tone from the pickups, though tonal range is somewhat limited with a 3 - way toggle switch and only one volume and one tone knob to serve both pickups. I have found that, even though it sounds sweet when recording and playing alone, it doesn't cut through the mix the way my Precision or Jazz does in a live, rock band setting. Incidentally, I slapped a Fender High Mass bridge on it, (which was more of a cosmetic upgrade, since it honestly didn't affect the tone in the least) and switched the strings to DR Hi - Beam short scale stainless steels .45 - 105 (which was a HUGE improvement over the Fender strings that come on the bass, and I highly recommend them!).